Do you ever go through your closet with intentions to purge, only to find yourself questioning what might become popular again in a couple of decades? I know we can’t hang on to every toy, CD and pair of jeans, but it hurts to think that my dad got rid of his original lava lamp, and entire collection of records, and my mom sold a Gibson guitar from the 70s, for peanuts at a garage sale. Ouch! Anyway, records have been making a comeback for several years now, and seem to be replacing CDs in stores. I finally got a suitcase record player a couple years ago, and love the vintage-y sound and vibes.

Have you noticed all the 90s band t-shirts in stores as well? Music has always been a huge part of our lives, and it’s so fun to see older equipment and bands being celebrated. We were inspired to create these suitcase record player piñatas as a favor for a music-themed party. It would be so fun to fill them with candy, gift cards for a favorite music store, or a fun vintage band t-shirt. You might have to fold it really tightly though, or upgrade to a bigger box! Wouldn’t these piñatas be a great way to present concert tickets?!

• Empty baking soda box
• Tacky glue
• Streamers
• Scissors
• Fringe scissors
• Glue
• Box cutter
• Cardstock (black and colors to match streamers)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Thumbtack
• Skinny screwdriver
• 1mm x 4mm Flat wire
• Cutting machine (optional) – use a compass or round objects to trace as an alternative

Step 1
Glue the opened side of the baking soda box back together. Fold streamers in half, and use fringe scissors to cut fringe along the opened edge of the fold. Glue the fringed strips to the front of the box, starting at the bottom, and working your way up. Cover the sides and top in fringe as well, and allow to dry before covering the back and bottom of the box. Cut the edges to line up with the box as you go. Allow to dry.

Step 2
Use a box cutter to cut three sides of a 1 ½” x 2” rectangle on the back of the baking soda box. You may fill with favors at this point, and re-close the opening.

Step 3
Cut a 5 ¾” x 4 ½” rectangle out of cardstock that coordinates with the fringe color on your piñata. Measure in a ½” along three sides of the rectangle (two short, and one long). In the two corners where your lines meet to create small squares, use scissors to cut the squares off. Now fold along the lines that you measured, so that you have three ½” flaps. You may use a cutting machine to cut out the “Crosley” logo, and glue to the center of the inside of the suitcase lid. Glue the straight edge of the piece to the back of your piñata, to look like the opened lid of the suitcase.

Step 4
Cut a 4 ¼” circle out of black cardstock, and a 1 3/8” circle out of another color. Glue the smaller circle to the center of the big one. Allow to dry, and poke a hole in the center so it looks like a record. Our hole punch was too short to reach the center, so we used a thumbtack to start the hole, and enlarged it using a small screwdriver. Glue the record to the middle of the left side of your suitcase piñata.

Step 5
To create the stylus and arm, cut a 2 ¼” piece of flat wire. Cut a ¼” x ½” rectangle out of black cardstock as well, and glue it to the bottom end of the wire, angled to the left. Glue the arm and stylus to the right of the record on the piñata. Cut out some tiny black circles to glue to the bottom, right corner of the player as knobs.

Your adorable record players are ready to gift!

Happy crafting!